Wengen February / March 2010.
27th February. Interlaken
Arrived very late last night owing to a strike by (you guessed it) the French air traffic controllers. Cheers Marcel, next time your teutonic neighbours invade look for someone else to bail you out. Anyhow, we were way too late for a curry, too late even to get into the hotel we'd booked which had long since closed for the night. Fortunately our old favourite the Splendid had a lovely room with a Jungfrau view, so we sat in Buddies drinking beer and watching the Olympics.
Got to Wengen at lunchtime, all looking good.
The global downturn has had a marked effect here - locals are looking weary and rumours abound of hoteliers having to sell their yachts and Ferraris. Important to do one's bit to support the local economy, so new woolly hat in order :-)
****************************************************************
28th February. Gloomy and very mild
Frozen waterfalls will soon melt - plus 9 when we left home this morning.
Some people learning to be Ski Patrollers - it looked hard work.
The new lift at Almiboden - brilliant - the area around Winteregg has been transformed.
****************************************************************
1st March. Sunshine! Pistes like sugar-coated concrete early-on, but softened later. Not a cloud in the sky.
First day at ski school for the tiny tots. Not sure whether the giant rabbit makes it more scary or less to be honest.
Madhouse up at Mannlichen - everyone finding their way around.
The classic Grindelwald shot.
They sell a lot of this stuff at Scheidegg, not sure it's really good for you though.
****************************************************************
2nd March. Grey, windy, snowing slightly. Birg - Schilthorn closed.
Empty train on the way to Murren - skiers are all still in bed.
A shaft of sunshine hit Winteregg around lunchtime. Not many skiers about!
Despite the mild weather, not much water in the mountain stream around the corner from our house.
Night drawing in - sky clearing. Murren twinkling in the twilight
****************************************************************
3rd March. Overcast, windy, cold. Wixi & Fallboden closed.
The new Eigernordwand lift, and the mountain itself. Awful visibility.
So we headed for Grindelwald and went up to First
The Grindelwald people have a cunning method of keeping the Yanks off some of the slopes.
Sales demonstration by the snow-plough company outside the Hotel Wetterhorn.
****************************************************************
4th March. Cold, snowing.
First proper snow since we arrived this morning.
Scheidegg almost deserted!
****************************************************************
5th March. Clouds and a little sun. New snow last night.
A visitor from the Old Country!
Not a bad day all in all.
****************************************************************
6th March. Big, big snowfall
We went skiing in Murren - wedding party in a snowstorm at Allmendhubel
Dinner. Simple really. Get a load of meat and set fire to it.
****************************************************************
7th March. Partly sunny, loads of new snow.
Managed to find a few peaceful places amongst the Sunday crowds.
Weather already beginning to change a little as we descend towards Aspen.
The cows that live at Aspen are very curious, and they like to get some fresh air whenever they can.
Absolute chaos as they escaped and went for a wander along the piste!
Dinner with Beanie and Sandro. Bob providing some entertainment..
Beanie having a go on the Didgeridoo.
****************************************************************
8th March. COLD!
This was the first and last photo I took today. The reason is simple - electronic gadgets are not designed to work at minus 14. Come to that, neither am I.
****************************************************************
9th March. Colder still, and snowing
This week we are doing a little skiing course with the DHO. It's just a bit of fun really but it's been very good. Too cold for any outside pictures, but here we are having lunch at Scheidegg.
It was so cold this afternoon that we only managed one run before we needed more hot chocolate. We stopped in a mountain hut called the Start Bar - it's next to the start of the Lauberhorn World Cup downhill course. Here are our mates Bob and Rachel from Wengen ski school.
****************************************************************
10th March. Less cold - more coaching!
Our group ready to go at Mannlichen.
A bit gloomy in places, but not too bad.
The sun tried hard to come out, but never quite made it. Cloud and snowfall by mid-afternoon.
Went to Interlaken for a curry this evening. Some of us were a bit tired on the train back up to the village.
****************************************************************
11th March. Cold, more new snow.
Val's turn to clear our steps.
A couple of hardy souls out for a walk, but most people stayed in bed.
****************************************************************
12th March. Weather looking good, at last.
OK it's a nice day today, so here are all the photos that I should have been taking for the past 2 weeks. Lovely views from Mannlichen across to the Schilthorn.
Misty down towards Grindelwald, but sunny up top.
Cruising down Rohr.
Down at Arven we catch the new Eigernordwand lift. It's dark and very cold down here at this time in the morning. As you can see this is not a popular choice at this time of day.
Great view to Scheidegg and the Lauberhorn from the top though.
The run down was a bit dark!.
The view back up the hill towards the Eiger.
View of the Jungfrau and the Silberhorn from the Alpweg.
A bit further along the piste runs under this little tunnel. Clearance is about 9 feet, but everyone ducks!
On a sunny afternoon the snow begins to soften. This leads to avalanches!
****************************************************************